Magnetic dipole moment estimates for an ancient lunar dynamoThe four measured planetary magnetic moments combined with a recent theoretical prediction for dynamo magnetic fields suggests that no dynamo exists in the moon's interior today. For the moon to have had a magnetic moment in the past of sufficient strength to account for at least some of the lunar rock magnetism, the rotation would have been about twenty times faster than it is today and the radius of the fluid, conducting core must have been about 750 km. The argument depends on the validity of the Busse solution to the validity of the MHD problem of planetary dynamos.
Document ID
19830040075
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Anderson, K. A. (California, University Berkeley, CA, United States)